Debates are still ongoing after Bayern star Joshua Kimich said he was not vaccinated and that he is reconsidering because there are no studies on the possible long-term consequences of vaccination.
An avalanche of indignation fell on the footballer, but also a lot of support because he asked a question that bothers many Germans.
Every fourth citizen has not yet received the corona vaccine.
Some of them on social networks are referring to the fear of the long-term consequences of the vaccine.
Side effects and allergic reactions immediately after receiving the vaccine are extremely rare, as well as occurrences of thrombosis or myocarditis a few weeks after vaccination.
But what about the eventual consequences that might come later?
Deutsche Welle (DW) provides answers to the most important questions, based on available scientific knowledge.
What are the differences between vaccine reactions, side effects, and long-term effects?
Reactions to vaccination usually occur soon after vaccination and can last for several days. In the case of corona vaccines, these are pain at the injection site in the hand, headache or fever. These body reactions indicate that the immune system is fighting the vaccine.
Side effects are stronger reactions to the vaccine. They are "an adverse reaction of the body to the vaccine that occurs in addition to the normal reaction to the vaccine," Kristine Falk, president of the German Immunology Society and professor at the Institute for Transplantation Immunology in Hanover, told DW.
They are more serious than usual vaccine reactions and, in the worst case, can lead to damage with long-term health consequences. Very rare side effects such as thrombosis (sinus veins) or myocarditis have already been detected with the covid vaccine.
"Long-term consequences" cannot be separated from the side effects of vaccination.
Immunologist Karsten Vacl explained on Twitter that these are side effects that occur after a certain time. For example, if a side effect occurs in only one in a million people, the association is only visible after several million people have been vaccinated.
The advantage of the covid vaccine is that more than 6,8 billion doses have been injected worldwide to date - so even rare side effects can be seen quickly.
"Since so many people have already been vaccinated, and many received the vaccines many months ago, we now know for sure what side effects are possible," immunologist Reinhold Ferster tells DW.
What about cases of thrombosis after vaccination with Astra Zenek?
This is a rare side effect, which immunologists discovered only after the Astra Zeneca vaccine was introduced, Ferster says.
This includes some severe cases with blood clots in unusual places (for example, in the brain as sinus vein thrombosis).
"Studies to approve the use of vaccines may show more frequent reactions to the vaccine, but unfortunately not rare ones due to the relatively small number of cases," explains immunologist Falk. Therefore, this side effect was observed only after the approval for the use of Astra Zeneca.
According to the Australian health authorities, thrombosis occurs in only four to six out of a million people vaccinated with that preparation.
According to the German Central Institute of Hygiene, most cases of thrombosis usually occur two to three weeks after vaccination, mostly in people under 60 years of age.
Therefore, since April in Germany, this Oxford vaccine is recommended only for people over 60 years of age. If the side effect is detected early enough, it can be treated.
How long does it take for the vaccine to break down in the body?
There are two different types of vaccines approved in the EU and Serbia: mRNA vaccines from the companies Bayontek/Pfizer and Moderne, and vector vaccines such as Astra Zeneka and Johnson & Johnson. Russian Sputnik and Chinese Sinofarm are included in such classic vaccines.
"It takes several days or weeks for vaccines to completely break down and no longer be present in our body," explains Falk.
Ferster adds that "there is no indication that there could be any subsequent reactions".
Because, after a few weeks, there are virtually no traces of the vaccine left in the body.
Were side effects discovered after several years with earlier vaccines?
A very rare side effect was observed with the Pandemriks vaccine against swine flu: narcolepsy, sleeping sickness. Initially, relatively few people were vaccinated, which is why the side effect was discovered months later, after many people had been vaccinated.
This unwanted phenomenon occasionally occurred in children and young people between the ages of four and 19, and occurred within a few weeks. Based on epidemiological studies, it is estimated that two to six additional cases of narcolepsy occur in children and adolescents per 100.000 injected vaccines.
The vaccine is no longer used in the EU.
What side effects have been reported with corona vaccines?
Known and very rare side effects of the corona vaccine, which the "Paul Ehrlich" Institute states in the report, are myocarditis - inflammation of the heart muscle, and pericarditis - inflammation of the heart tissue.
Anaphylactic reactions, thrombosis (sinus veins), Guillain-Barré syndrome and thrombocytopenia have also been reported.
All these side effects are so rare that the risk of infection and serious illness from corona is many times higher than the risk of side effects.
Conclusion: Leading immunologists in Germany generally exclude the possibility of getting sick years after vaccination against covid. The body reacts to the vaccine immediately or a few weeks later - and then it can develop reactions or possibly unwanted consequences.
According to immunologists with whom DW spoke, long-term adverse events, which, as skeptics fear, occur years after the first vaccination, are not possible, and are not known with other vaccines either. Since the body quickly breaks down the vaccine, it cannot cause any subsequent reactions.
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